Monday, December 29, 2008

Favorites of 2008, Pt. 2

This one is timely, given the recent death of the original singer of this song: I Want to Be Evil done by Chiwetel Ejiofor in the movie Kinky Boots. It's as good as Eartha's, I promise!Another fun cover of a classic old song that I found this year is Bjork's version of Dean Martin's Sway. The music and her voice are old-movie-star-glamorous, and that she's not singing in English is irrelevant. After all, you know the words already ... "Other dancers may pee on the floor/dear, but my eyes will see only you"

I am embarrassed to admit that I did not know until this summer that Swing Out Sister's version of Am I the Same Girl was not the original. I have one of the blogs in my links (I wish I could remember which one) to thank for cluing me in to Miss Dusty's being the original.

From the movie High Society, the duet "Well, Did You Evah" between Frank and Bing was probably my favorite discovery of the year. I've listened to it over and over and over and enjoy it every time. Karen - Miss Sparkleneely? - I think if you don't already love it wholeheartedly, then you certainly will.Autumn

Paul, the gentleman who runs Ain't Superstitous, But These Things I've Seen, put together a summer mix that included a song by Bobby Darin I'd never heard called Lovin' You and I was a goner. My player says I've played it only 298 times, but that can't be right. Also, it doesn't include how many times I played it in the car.

At Fong Songs I found a Dixieland cover of a Bond theme - Kenny Ball and His Jazzmen - From Russia With Love and it was love at first listen. That one got a minimum of 337 plays, evidently.And as long as I'm talking about music blogs I love, I might as well throw this out now: Locust St. This is the best, most eloquently, most thoughtfully, most knowledgably written music blog out there. The music posted is eclectic and spans the last century or more. Lately, there's been a series of very early (starting in 1900!) 20th century music; ragtimes, cakewalks, country, jazz, etc. I am in love with the blog in general and the series in particular. If you read Shorpy, this would be the musical equivalent. Shorpy + Locust St. = All Eyes And Ears - 100 years. Anyway, here are the three most beloved tunes I got from Locust St.

I DO love it! You can't go wrong with The Two Greats singing Cole Porter. (And the line, "Don't dig that kind of croonin', chum" is such a fabulous in joke...) And the movie is just divine. Thank you so much for the mp3 -- I just have a scratchy record!

there's also the instrumental of "Am I the Same Girl" called Soulful Strut by Young Holt Unlimited -- it is AWESOME, as is Barbara Acklin's version -- I didn't even know Miss Dusty did it!!!

Disclaimer:

Music is posted for a short time, and while I use it in part to (hopefully, though not always) go along with the theme of the photo, I also post it in hopes someone will give it a try and fall in love with it as I have. Perhaps they will then seek out more by the artist and buy more cds. That's how it works with me, anyway.
If you like it, pick it up at the store; support the artists you love.